Twitter’s Latest Abuse Update Is A Huge Disappointment

Twitter, the micro-blogging giant, has a big plan to fight online abuse and hate crime. VP of Engineering Ed Ho and CEO Jack Dorsey have been discussing the topic quite a lot all week on the micro-blogging site. However, do not get too excited about the news because when you actually read about the update, you will realize that it’s not worth all that mirth and relief.

Is this how Twitter is planning to combat online abuse?

If the answer is yes, then we doubt the micro-blogging giant will be able to succeed. On Wednesday, the social network announced the first step, which was allowing the users to report tweets that mention them even if the person has blocked them. Before if someone blocked you, that person could still say negative things about you and harass you but you could not report the harassment. However, now you can report with the help of his update.

But this update raises another question: Why was Twitter so slow in bringing this update? Why now? This is a small update which could have been done before. In a talk with news site Mashable, a Twitter spokesperson said that they are approaching safety with a sense of urgency. The spokesperson added, “As such, we will be rolling out a number of product changes in the coming days and weeks – some will be immediately visible, while others will be more targeted to specific scenarios.”

The statement by the Twitter spokesperson further said that they will update the users along the way and to evaluate their effectiveness, they will keep on testing, learning and iterating on those changes. The statement continued, “You can expect to see meaningful progress in this area.”

Twitter ex-CEO says he takes responsibility for not stopping abuse on Twitter

The social networking site refused to speak more on a full roadmap, but its executives did give a few clues on Twitter. Dorsey tweeted, “We’re taking a completely new approach to abuse on Twitter. Including having a more open & real-time dialogue about it every step of the way.” In the meantime, the short stock sellers are giving up on the social network, just as Reuters reported earlier this week. The stock of the micro-blogging giant dropped 2% at markets close on Wednesday.

According to Axios, the product update comes a few hours after Twitter’s ex CEO Dick Costolo (from 2010 to 2015) said that he wished he could turn back time and fight abuse on the micro-blogging site in a better way.

While speaking at the Upfront Summit in Los Angeles, Costolo was reported saying he wishes he could turn back the clock and go back to 2010 and stop abuse on Twitter by creating a very specific bar for how to behave on the platform. He said, “I take responsibility for not taking the bull by the horns.”

Nishtha Singh is a iStartup staff reporter who covers tech news, including review of devices, emerging startups, acquisitions, gadgets, Cars, Cloud, EVs, AR, VR, AI and more. Further, she is a reader, a tech-enthusiast, and a writer. Editor at Teenage Publishing and proof-reader at Evoque Publishing.